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��THE CITY OF WASHITA.
��It was a prediction of one of the early settlers of Dunstable that the valley of the Merrimack would be a great manu- facturing region. Then Lowell and Lawrence, Manchester and Nashua were not. The men who pioneered manufac- turing in this valley, first examined the water power on the Souhegan river at Merrimack, but it was not thought ade- quate to their purpose. On their return they passed the Nashua, but Were entire- ly unaware of the power which has since been so extensively improved. While they were beginning operations at Low- ell, by means of the Pawtucket canal, several citizens of Nashua village had awakened to the capacity of Mine Falls, on the Nashua, three miles from the Merrimack, for manufacturing purposes. A saw mill had been erected at Mine Falls as early as 1700,and it was proposed at first to erect mills there. The fall is thirty-six feet, which is unsurpassed in New Eng- land. Upon further investigation and an actual survey, it was deemed practicable to erect the mills on the present site and bring the water from Mine Falls by means of a canal. An association was formed, and in June, 1823, a charter was- obtained for the Nashua Manufacturing Company, with a capital limited to $1,000,000. The capital stock was at first fixed at $300,000, at $100 a share. Among the subscribers was Daniel Web- ster, who put his name down for sixty shares, but tradition says he never paid for them. The capital stock was finally paid in, however, mainly by Daniel Ab- bott, J. E. & A. Greeley, Augustus Pea- body, B.F.French, Foster &Kendrick and Moses Tyler, all Nashua men. This great enterprise was undertaken, it will thus be seen, at a time when cotton man- ufacturing in the United States was in its infancy. If not the originators they were certainly among the pioneeers of this in- dustry in the United States, and their en- terprise and forsight deserve the fullest recognition. In 1824 the dam at Mine Falls was built, and the excavation of the canal begun and completed in the follow- ing year. The canal is about three miles in length, 60 feet wide, and 6 feet deep, and attbrds a head and fall of 33 feet.
Mill No. 1 was erected and went into
��full operation in 1825. In 1827 mill No. 2 was erected, in 1836, mill No. 3, and in 1844, mill No. 4. All these mills have been greatly improved and modernized and their capacity nearly doubled. Or- iginally they had 32,074 spindles, and manufactured 11,500,000 yards of cloth per annum. They now have a capacity of 76,000 spindles, and turn out 17,500,- 000 yards of fine sheeting, shirting, print cloth and cotton flannels per annum. Capital, $1,000,000. Employ 1000 hands. P. A. Maxfield is agent and Jas. S. Amory treasurer.
In 1824, a canal, with the necessary dams and locks, was constructed to con- nect the Nashua and Merrimack rivers, and thereby open boat transportation to Nashua village. The entire cost of this undertaking was $30,000.
The lower water privilege, now occu- pied by the Jackson Company, was sold by the Nashua Company to Charles C. Haven and others, who were incorporated by the name of the "Indian Head Com- pany," for the purpose of erecting woolen factories. The necessary buildings were at once erected, and the mills went into operation in 1826. The enterprise did not prove a success, the company be- came embarrassed, and the property was sold to a new company, which was in- corporated as the Jackson Company in 1830. The old machinery was taken out, and machinery for the manufacture of cotton cloth put in. There are two mills, which had an original capacity of 11,588 spindles, but which has since been in- creased to 22,000 spindles, ecmal to an annual production of 9,000,000 yards of sheeting and shirting per annum. Capi- tal $600,000. Employ 550 hands. Wil- liam D. Cadwell is agent and Frederick Amory treasurer.
Salmon Brook, at the Harbor, was im- proved by the erection of a cotton mill in 1845. This was followed by the erec- tion of another mill, having altogether a capacity of 5,000 spindles, and turning out 900,000 yards per annum. These are now known as the Vale Mills, with a cap- ital of $500,000. Employ 80 hands. Benj. Saunders is agent and treasurer.
We have now glanced at the establish- ment and growth of the cotton interest
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